Connecting the Dots: Afternoon edition for Tuesday, March 13, 2012

In order to avoid a repeat of the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion, PG&E will shift hundreds of employees to a new office in San Ramon that contains a state-of-the-art gas control center. The move comes shortly after PG&E agreed to pay $70 million in settlement money to the city of San Bruno...

A well-known critic of California's education cuts, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, will step down at the end of the year. The chancellor says he plans to return to teaching and research...

State budget cuts have ramifications beyond schools: Governor Jerry Brown has proposed cutting $2.9 million from resource centers that assist nearly 12,000 in-home caregivers across the state. Currently, California has 11 centers that ensure services to caregivers who support family members suffering from Alzheimer's, dementia, brain injury, and a variety of other illnesses...

Meanwhile, transitional kindergartens might still be saved. The state's education finance subcommittee has rejected a proposal to eliminate such kindergartens, stressing the importance of early childhood education.